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The urban myth is that Apple deliberately sneaks code into iOS updates to make your older iPhone run slower, in the hopes that you'll buy a new one. It's like that old joke: Android users buy a new phone because they're not getting software updates, while iPhone users buy a new phone because they got a software update.

As far as I know, nothing about this has ever been proven—at least not until now. Ars Technica has compiled an excellent report on research by Geekbench developer John Poole and the iPhone community on reddit. It turns out the Apple may indeed be deliberately throttling performance on your older hardware, but its reasons for doing so are benign. There's no planned obsolescence here, but there is code within iOS that senses battery degradation, and limits performance for the express purpose of preserving your battery.

The successful remedy to a throttled iPhone is to replace the battery, but Apple really doesn't want you to do that, bringing us right back to the contentious issue of planned obsolescence. Maybe the next best thing would be to buy one of those battery cases...?

Here's hoping that every Canadian reading this was able to jump onto a 10GB/month plan yesterday; if not, I've been hearing that some carriers are extending their promos until end of day today. I actually joined in on the fun myself, and am now the proud owner of two Rogers SIMs—one each for the girlfriend and I.

Why, as a Freedom Mobile customer, would I even want to admit this? Because the Rogers SIMs are going to be used only as backups in the second SIM slots of our two OnePlus phones; our primary voice, text and data service will be with Freedom Mobile. I'll be sealing the deal by porting out our numbers from Koodo later today.

Some Howard Forums members seem to have a hard time believing this, but Freedom's service in downtown Toronto has, in more than a month's worth of use, been surprisingly good. I can think of only two places where I've not had a reliable signal—in the basement of The Bay's Queen Street store and a lawyer's office where there weren't any nearby windows.

For scenarios like these getting back online will be as simple as switching our data connection to Rogers. Those lines were activated on the same $5/month tablet flex plan; they're ready if we need them, but the cost of keeping them on standby is low. In fact, for the next twenty months they're basically free, since Freedom is giving each of our lines a $10 credit per month.

Back in the summer of 2014 when FM was still WIND Mobile I wrote that I wouldn't fault anyone for voting with their wallet—that is, paying for service with an upstart carrier to divert money that would otherwise go to The Big Three. Today, with a dual-SIM phone you can finally have the best of both worlds. And if that dual-SIM device is a OnePlus 5 or 5T you get a pretty fantastic Android smartphone as well!

Oh, it's a gold rush, all right... in this country, a 10GB data bucket has never been so cheap!

In the absence of any other data, here's a poll that iPhone in Canada ran over the weekend, asking its community which carrier, if any, was chosen for a new 10GB $60/month plan. Here are the results, as of 7:30am Eastern Time this morning:

Not an exhaustive data set, to be sure, but it's something at least. And the most heartening thing for me here is that Freedom Mobile didn't score last. Remember, the only reason why Alberta, BC and Ontario are suddenly seeing big data buckets at reasonable rates is because Freedom is finally selling the iPhone on a halfway decent 4G network...

And where is TELUS in all of this? Apparently its flanker brand Koodo will be announcing something similar today. That's especially good news for Big Three subscribers in Ontario, as Koodo's out-of-province plans have historically been fairly easy to get.

The reason for this sudden surge in affordable data plans has got to be the one-two punch of Freedom Mobile's cheap 4G offerings and the fact that they're now an official vendor/subsidizer of Apple's iPhone. Even if you think their network sucks—and my experience with a Band 66-compatible phone in downtown Toronto would suggest that it doesn't—you potentially stand to gain from their affordable data, improved network and available handsets.

If only The Big Three were competitive across the entire country, then we'd really have something to celebrate...

Apologies for the Toronto-centric news (how Canadian of me!) but a bunch of new subway stations are opening in the GTA this weekend, and for people who live here it's a pretty big deal.

As Mobile Syrup reports, every one of these new stations will have free T-Connect WiFi available, but for Freedom Mobile subscribers there's even better news: the carrier's band 66 LTE will be available not only on the extension's subterranean platforms, but throughout the 9 kilometers of tunnel as well.

BAI Canada, who won the contract to provide WiFi and cellular service to the TTC's underground in 2013, has now wired all 75 subway stations for service. They expect to have all tunnels in the downtown core connected by next summer.

Yes, this means that you may have to endure one side of your fellow commuters' inane phone conversations, but if you're the more considerate type you'll also be able to message your friends and loved ones in silence.

I don't use the TTC every day but when I do Freedom's underground connectivity has been fantastic, with a strong signal already following me halfway through the tunnel to the next station. And soon it will be even better!

An unlucky redditor on r/apple tells the harrowing tale of an AirPod that fell out of their ear, rolled right into the gap between an open elevator door and the 19th floor of a building and then tumbled 21 floors to the basement below. To Apple's engineering credit (or dumb luck) the hardware survived and still works without issue, but what I find amazing about this story is that the AirPod was recovered at all. Kudos to the elevator maintenance crew that assisted in the rescue.

For me the moral of this story is that the most alluring feature of truly wireless earbuds is also their biggest downfall. It's truly liberating to be able to listen to music completely unencumbered by wires, but should a bud become dislodged from your ear then there's nothing to protect it from a fall, either.

I had a similar, albeit much more minor accident the other day while walking through the University of Toronto campus. As a cold arctic wind suddenly picked up I instinctively raised the hood of my jacket to cover my head, and in so doing knocked both of my BOSE wireless earbuds out of my ears and onto the hard sidewalk below. The buds were undamaged, which was good, but I looked like an idiot as I scrambled to retrieve them, which was maybe not so good.

In this unfortunate era of fake news I've made it a daily habit to visit Snopes. In a more innocent time one might go there to fact-check an urban myth; these days the site's scope has expanded to include other types of misinformation, like misleading tweets from members of Congress.

So, first of all, as a member of the European Union, Portugal enjoys net neutrality protections set by the EU regulator BEREC. What we're actually looking at in this MEO screen shot is a selection of zero-rated data bundles—apps and services that, for an additional fee, won't be subject to the user's monthly data cap. The idea, if not the execution, is similar to T-Mobile's Binge On.

In the EU, as in Canada, zero-rated data offerings come under scrutiny if they are suspected of disadvantaging similar services. For example, Bell Canada's mobile TV offering was disallowed by our CRTC because it was not subject to data caps, and was therefore anti-competitive against other video services, like Netflix and YouTube, that were.

It's difficult to pitch zero-rated data as a net neutrality issue because everybody wants free stuff—or, in the case of MEO subscribers, unlimited access to the services they use most. But don't be fooled by tweets; Portugal does have a zero-rated data problem, but also strong net neutrality protections.

Last spring I wrote about how the Netflix app wouldn't run on rooted Android hardware. That unfortunate fact led me to investigate Magisk; its "root hide" and SafetyNet bypass features enables Android modders to enjoy not only Netflix but Pokémon GO and Android Pay as well.

Over the weekend, however, another issue with Netflix for Android has surfaced: according to XDA some high-powered devices, like the OnePlus 5T and ZTE Axon M, are unable to stream Netflix video in HD.

The reason for this has to do with the logo at the top of this post. Widevine is one of the oldest and most-used DRM solutions for digital content. It's widely used for video games, Blu-Ray systems, Amazon Prime Video and—you guessed it—Netflix. There are actually different certification levels for Widevine-protected content; only Level 1 certification will permit playback of content in HD and above. Google's Pixels and Samsung Galaxy class flagships have L1 certification; OnePlus is currently only certified at Level 3.

Oh, and did I mention that Google acquired Widevine in 2010?

Blame for this mess can be thrown in all directions, Google, Netflix, OnePlus... But it might be easier to just agree that DRM in general is terrible for users. Net neutrality is not the only threat to an open Internet; DRM-encumbered services are another means by which the Internet of tomorrow might end up looking much more like the cable television of today.

Amazon.ca continues to bolster its first party hardware portfolio with two new tablets—new for Canada, at least. At present it looks like they'll only be available for purchase individually, rather than those crazy six-packs that were selling to Americans a few years back.

I had always thought that Amazon's affordable tablets would be perfect for the novice Android modder—with an unlocked bootloader and root access you could kill the Amazon bloat and be left with a mean and lean F-Droid machine. But the XDA forums for these devices leads me to believe that rooting them is only possible on older versions of their OS. Would any Android hackers care to weigh in on whether or not the extra hassle would be worth it?

If you were planning a visit to your local Verizon outlet today, there's something you should know: "Team Internet", a coalition of the activist groups Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press, is planning a national day of action at Verizon stores around the country. Participants will be protesting the FCC's planned repeal of net neutrality protections in the United States.

On November 21st FCC Chief Ajit Pai formally revealed plans to reverse the commission's 2015 net neutrality order, more specifically the Title II protections for broadband and mobile Internet traffic. The worry is that without Title II there will be nothing to stop Internet service providers from prioritizing, for example, their own video streaming services over Netflix or YouTube. Pai, on the other hand, claims that Title II has stifled innovation and investment in network infrastructure.

The FCC will vote on Pai's plan on December 14th; the repeal is expected to go through with commissioners voting 3 for and 2 against, along party lines. What today's protests are expected to accomplish beyond raising awareness is unclear. Depending on where you stand on this issue it could be either a minor annoyance or something you'll very much want to be a part of.